Well, it was a star-studded night last July in old Baden-Baden. Or perhaps a couple of nights. With one or possibly two exceptions, all the big arias, duets, and quartets are here. You name it, loud and fast, here they all are. This is the sort of chestnuts concert I usually try to avoid, which suggests that there is a “but” coming up. The “but” is that it is all wonderfully done.

These are the younger generation, in early- or mid-career, who have begun appearing everywhere, and, to judge by this showing, with good reason. To be sure, there is still interpretational work to be done, but it is hard to judge that accurately from an excerpt in a concert as opposed to hearing it in the proper dramatic context. Indeed, it is really only in the five end-of-the-evening numbers that the singers loosen up and start using the whole stage. For instance, the opening number, the duet “Mira, O Norma,” did not generate much excitement and Netrebko’s later “Casta diva” didn’t quite take off, but this may have been due in part to Armiliato’s somewhat rigid conducting. It is quite a voice, however, and in her extra number, “Meine Lippen,” she quite brought down the house, kicking off her shoes, bouncing all over the stage and tossing flowers to men in the front rows. True, one is supposed to like such antics, but it showed that she has real flesh and blood in her.

El?na Garan?a is definitely the mezzo to watch. She is elegant, has an insouciant smile, and a voice as smooth as silk. Her lowest register is not as big as, say, Marilyn Horne’s, but it is a unified sound from top to bottom; she uses it intelligently, and it is a great pleasure to listen to. Her “Mon coeur” suggested that Dalila almost believed what she was telling Samson, and Chapí’s carceleras, “Al pensar,” was a great hit.

Ramón Vargas’s career is already in full swing as a bel canto tenor. Coming early on the program, his tear was perhaps not quite as furtive as one would like, but he warmed up during the show and the scena from Luisa Miller, “Quando le sere al placido,” was most satisfying.

I had not heard baritone Ludovic Tézier before. He is a straightforward, no frills singer; though his voice is not large, it is pleasing to hear. Where he really came alive was in the Don Carlo duet with Vargas, which had real fire, largely because he had someone to interact with.
If you are going to have an opera-chestnuts evening on your DVD shelf, this is the one.

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